The Way Home
by Lassarina Aoibhell
Summary: FF4-FF6 crossover. This was not exactly what Edge expected to find on the hunting trip--but it's more interesting than what he expected, so it's not all bad.
1. Chapter 1

Of all the things Edge expected to find on this hunting trip—a bad case of bug bites and an excruciating sense of boredom had topped the mental list he'd made before leaving the castle—an extremely hot (and also efficient) warrior raining down copious amounts of ice upon the flame dogs that roamed Eblan's plains was definitely not one of them.

He kept far back from the scene of the battle, figuring she didn't need his help and if she was anything like Rydia—which the black magic she was using suggested—she'd probably fry his ass for getting in the way, and he'd already _had _that experience with Rydia twice this week, and the blisters still itched.

When the flame dogs were soggy steaming corpses as opposed to burning animals, he judged it safe to announce his presence. "Hey," he called out, ready to duck (which would definitely not be a retreat, it would just be prudent, because you never know with powerful unknown mages just what they're going to do when you surprise them).

She turned very fast, her sword held in a guard position that he recognized from Cecil's stances when they fought together, and it was probably not helping the situation that all he noticed about her face was _even when she looks like she might kill me ten seconds from now, she's really hot._ "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, hands held up. "I just haven't seen you before, and so I'm a little curious."

Her eyes flicked over him with little interest, and though her face eased from a scowl to a neutral look, she didn't relax her guard in the slightest. "Where is this?" she asked, and it took him a moment to sort out what she was saying—her accent was very clipped and her words rushed, and it didn't sound like anywhere he'd ever visited. Also it was really weird that she was asking where she was, there weren't that many places around Eblan you could set out from and get lost, but whatever.

"You're in Eblan," he said quickly, and gave her his best reassuring smile—not that she could probably see it what with the ninja veil, but he hoped she heard it in his voice. "I'm Edge Geraldine. What's your name?"

Confusion flickered across her face. "My name is—" She paused, and pressed the fingers of her left hand to her temple. "—Celes?"

She said it more like a question than a statement, and Edge was starting to think that there was probably something really messed up going on here. He hoped she didn't actually have amnesia. It would make it a lot harder to get her back home. Not that he'd mind if she stuck around a while, she was pretty hot. Except he'd better not think about that too hard or Rydia was going to get really mad. "Okay, Celes, nice to meet you. You been traveling long?"

She frowned. "I—I don't know. Eblan, you said? I don't know a country by that name."

"What countries do you know?" Maybe they could work backwards?

"Figaro, the Empire, Jidoor, Narshe, Kohlingen—" She paused and rubbed at her forehead as though the name disturbed her. A moment later, she continued. "Thamasa, Doma, Tzen, Albrook, Mobliz, and Maranda." Again that motion of her fingers across her forehead, hard enough to leave white indentations in already pale skin.

Edge would willingly admit he didn't know the geography of the world by heart, but she seemed to think these were countries, and he definitely knew the names of all the major nations. Had she hit her head, maybe? He tried to check, discreetly, but no blood matted the long blond hair and her face was perfect—really, really perfect—okay, that line of thought definitely had to stop.

"You are staring at me as though I have grown a second head," she said crisply.

Again, it took him a moment to sort out the meaning of her words. "Well, it's just, I've never heard of any of those places you mentioned," he said. "Did you hit your head, or anything? I mean, what else do you remember?"

She opened her mouth, but didn't say anything for a long moment. "I...don't remember anything," she said slowly. "I know my name. I can fight. But I don't know where I am or how I got here."

"Okay, so what's the first thing you remember?"

"Being awakened by one of those fire-dogs trying to take a chunk out of my shoulder," she said.

"You're injured? Crap, I think I have some potions here," Edge said, scrambling in his pouch.

"I healed it already," she said.

Edge gaped. "You can use black _and _white magic?" he asked.

She looked puzzled. "Magicite doesn't distinguish between types of spells," she said. "Cure was the first spell to be transferred when I received my Magitek infusion."

This was worse than trying to listen to Cid explain the difference between types of airship engines. Edge gave up on hunting through his pack. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said honestly. "Um, were you travelling with anyone? Should I be looking for any other wandering people?"

"There was someone--" She frowned, and her left hand pressed against her temple again. In a distant corner of his mind, Edge was impressed: her sword had stayed in guard position without wavering once for this entire conversation. "I think there was someone, but I can't remember who."

"Alright, well, I'll send some of my people out to look." Edge offered his hand. "If you want to come with me, I know someone who'd love to talk to you about your magic, and maybe she can help us figure out where you need to go."

"Thank you," Celes said. She sheathed her sword, and now that she wasn't braced against the weight of a weapon, Edge could see that her posture put even Kain's to shame. Just who was this girl?

One thing was for sure, though: it ought to be interesting to find out. He was really, really hoping that "interesting" didn't end up meaning "life-threatening."

~*~

Celes followed the strange young man out of the forest. His garments were naggingly familiar, as though she had known someone who dressed similarly in the past, but she could not identify the source of her half-recognition. His mannerisms, too, reminded her of someone in a way that brought a certain warmth to her chest. She dismissed the extraneous and unproductive curiosity about these others she did not quite remember, and instead focused her attention on the land around her. The first thing a soldier did in unfamiliar territory was reconnaissance.

...Was she a soldier? She didn't know. Yet the thought of reconnaissance had come so easily.

Debating such things within her own head was a waste of time and effort. She examined the land around her instead. Largely flat and marshy, it was utterly unsuitable for a pitched battle. Perhaps that explained Edge's lack of steel armour. He carried narrow twin swords crossed on his back, not entirely unlike the sword that--someone--the name was lost to her mind, but she could almost see someone when she thought of the sword. Her mind pictured a swordsman, in peak condition, with graying black hair and lines carved deeply into his face.

Celes was growing profoundly irritated at the inefficiency that plagued her mind, and her own lack of memory.

They traveled for a good portion of the afternoon, and the sun was just touching the horizon when Edge said, "Here we are."

He led her up the side of a small plateau, which seemed mainly formed of clay and was therefore more stable than the marshlands they had been travelling through. Upon reaching the top, she found a bustling camp. It was efficiently laid out, but did not appear to be an army camp, judging by the number of noncombatants she saw. Regardless, it was well-placed for defense, given the high ground and the relative firmness of the clay.

"Rydia!" Edge called, and a slight girl in green rose from her place at one of the campfires. She turned to face them, and Celes's thoughts stuttered to a halt.

_Green hair. _There had been a girl she knew with green hair, but that one wore red, and _fire was everywhere, searing her skin, she remembered screaming and the fire was _everywhere_ and a whooping cackle echoed all around. _The words "Test subject" rang in her ears like massive bells.

"Hey! Hey, are you okay?" Someone was gripping her arm and she fought free of the half-vision to find herself on her knees. Edge crouched next to her, his expression concerned under the absurd little veil that covered half his face, and it was his hand on her arm. The girl in green was standing four meters away, studying her intently.

"My apologies," she said stiffly, and forced herself to her feet. "I do not know what came over me."

"You look like you saw a ghost," the girl said. She extended a hand, slowly enough to make it clear that she intended no threat. "I am Rydia, of Mist."

"Celes." She clasped the other woman's hand as she would any warrior. Rydia had the indefinable air of someone skilled in battle, but she bore no sword-calluses. Nor did her arm have the musculature Celes might have expected. Yet her skin thrummed with energy, a bright flickering sense of _something _that went deeper than muscle or bone. It felt like magicite--

_--sparks thrumming off gray stone incised with runes the colour of old blood, cold or hot or sparking to the touch and almost singing with energy--_

"Did he remember to offer you anything to eat? I doubt it. Here, come sit down," Rydia said, and gestured to the campfire.

"How long have I been in camp?" Edge asked, sounding aggrieved. "You could maybe give me a chance to do things before you scold me for not doing them!"

Celes followed Rydia to the campfire, letting their quick, sharp banter flow past her without involving herself in it. It was apparent that they were quite fond of each other, despite the insults and arguments being thrown about.

Rydia pointed Celes to a seat and in short order had a plate of bread, cheese, and dried meat assembled, along with a cup of some kind of alcohol. "Beware the wine," Rydia said, with a sideways look at Edge. "It's rather strong."

Celes nodded her thanks. She was not particularly hungry, but she would need the food if she must fight later, so she ate what was put before her. It was more than adequate; she'd certainly eaten worse on their journey.

Whose journey?

She had some flash of memory--_the horrible whooping laugh and a massive conflagration_--but could put no more definition to it than that.

The other inhabitants of the camp were chattering, and a phrase caught her ear. "--bad enough that Edge is always panting after the summoner girl, but now he wants to bring in some other slut. He needs to rule the kingdom, not spend his days chasing skirts."

Before she quite realized what she was doing, Celes had put down her plate and gotten to her feet. The chattering--soldiers? She supposed they must be--fell silent, and one made a poor attempt at hiding behind his compatriots, his expression guilty. Celes pinned him with her best glare. "I'm a _general, _not some licentious harlot bent on seduction," she snapped.

"If you can't keep a civil tongue in your head, Kazushi, you'll find yourself dismissed from my service," Edge said. "Go gather firewood. We'll need more for the night."

"Your Majesty--" Kazushi began to protest.

"Get out of my sight," Edge said, and Kazushi fled.

Celes reclaimed her seat, and Edge plopped down next to her. "Sorry," he said. "I'm not skirt-chasing. I mean, you're really pretty, but that's not why I asked you to come back with me."

"I did not think it was." She toyed with the bread disinterestedly.

"Nor did I, which is really the more pertinent issue," Rydia added. "But you said you were a general. Where?"

_Fire. Civilians struggled as her soldiers dragged them from their homes and set the buildings to the torch. A man lay bloody and broken on the ground for striking her. A red-and-black banner snapped in the fire-driven wind, proclaiming their supremacy._

"I commanded for the Empire," she said hollowly. "They called me the Butcher of Maranda."

Rydia and Edge exchanged quick looks that she did not miss. "We have no towns or battlefields called Maranda," Rydia said carefully.

"And I have never heard of Eblan," Celes answered, "though I have seen nearly all the world."

"Look, let's not worry about this tonight," Edge said. "You need some rest, and then tomorrow maybe we can head back to where we met, and see if there's something around there that would give a clue."

Celes nodded. She had an impulse to go right that moment and investigate, but the wiser course of action would be to rest before beginning a new mission.

"Hey." Edge put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "We'll help you, alright? Don't worry."

It was easier to smile than she would have thought. "Thank you," she said.

"I mean, it might take twice as long since Edge likes to screw things up," Rydia said, "but we'll get there."

Celes stared.

"I love you too, dearest," Edge said, and put his arm around Rydia.

Did all people here behave in such a bizarre fashion?

"Ignore him," Rydia advised. "Rest well, Celes. We'll get you back to where you came from."

Celes murmured her thanks and watched them walk away, arm-in-arm. She could almost remember someone doing the same with her once, but try though she might, she could not picture a face--only a dark blue bandanna.

She went to the bedroll Edge had indicated and lay down. She would need her rest if they were to be travelling and possibly fighting tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

Celes woke before dawn, and lay motionless in her bedroll, as though she still slept, while she examined the area around her. There were a few guards posted, who seemed to be more concerned with monsters than with people. Everyone else slept. The air was chilly, a welcome sensation on her skin. She preferred cold weather to warm; heat made her feel as though her body was trying to melt.

She had been having a very strange dream, a swirl of colour and magic with faces she thought she recognized but could not name. She felt as though there was some huge task she was meant to undertake, but could not draw the specifics of it out of the fog that seemed to envelop her memories.

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and promptly feigned sleep, though she kept her eyes open the faintest bit. The first hints of dawnlight gleamed on polished leather and green robes. Rydia was moving quietly through the camp, and behind her Celes could just glimpse a dark-purple shadow that must be Edge. The pair paused near a tent that seemed to contain foodstuffs and filled the packs they carried.

Celes gave up her ploy of sleep and rose from her bedroll. After picking up both her pack and her weapons, she walked toward Edge and Rydia.

"Great, you're awake," Rydia said with a welcoming smile. "We were hoping to slip out of camp before everyone wakes up."

"Do you often have to sneak around in this way, Your Majesty?" Celes asked. She was growing used to their slow, slurred dialect; it reminded her a bit of Thamasa.

She wondered where that was, and why she had been there. The name brought to mind images of fire, and a sense of deep loss, so she pushed it aside. She could worry about it later; right now, she had a goal to accomplish.

"Only when it seems likely that Gramps will get in the way," Edge answered. He hoisted his pack. "I thought we'd start by heading back to where we met--maybe you can tell me, from there, where you came from."

Celes nodded and finished fastening her sword belt. Rydia fastened the straps of her own pack and slid her coiled whip up her arm to rest comfortably on her shoulder. Edge observed them impatiently.

In that way, he was different from the other ninja. That man could stand still for hours and betray no reaction.

Celes decided that these fragments of memory were more irritating by far than the featureless blankness of the majority of her past.

"Let's go, then, if only to stop you dancing in place," Rydia murmured to Edge. He rolled his eyes and led the way out of camp.

The path he chose led them over what seemed to be the firmest available ground; Celes could not help but wonder what would prompt someone to build a kingdom in the midst of a marsh. Then again, she was unsure why anyone would choose to cross a desert of their own volition, much less make a home there, an attitude that had amused Edgar to no end.

Edgar?

"Celes?" Rydia asked softly, and Celes realized she had come to a halt.

"My apologies," she said, hurrying to catch up.

Rydia put a hand on her arm, and though the touch was light, Celes could feel the magic humming all around the other woman. "Don't push yourself," Rydia said. "It's not a race. We'll find out where you came from."

Celes shook her head. It was not that she felt compelled to rush toward finding a solution; a general who raced in headfirst would find herself with a number of unpleasant surprises as a reward for her haste. Yet neither was she satisfied to wait until her memories came back. The nagging feeling of something important left undone was growing stronger, and it seemed tied to the glimpses of blood and fire that had plagued her dreams.

The rising sun cast long, twisting shadows across the path that Edge had chosen for them. Celes took care with her footing and looked about her, endeavoring to commit the landscape to memory. It was, at the very least, familiar--although much of it appeared similar--and she gauged that they should come to the area where she had met Edge within a few hours.

For the most part, it was a pleasant walk, broken only occasionally by the need to fight monsters. It seemed Rydia was a powerful mage. Once, she called forth a goddess of ice to destroy a pack of flame dogs; Celes felt a violent, wrenching pain when the goddess returned to the place she'd come from, and an aching loneliness, as though someone she had close kinship with had been torn away. She wondered why it seemed so familiar. Edge, for his part, made short work of anything that came within range of his twin swords.

Edge seemed to prefer to scout ahead, and so Celes found herself walking with Rydia while he tested the ground ahead of them and checked for evidence of monsters hiding in the tall marsh grass.

"Have you traveled much?" Celes asked her. Perhaps she knew of the lands Celes had seen. Edge seemed nice enough, but rather scattered.

Rydia nodded. "We have been all over this world, and the one below. And the moon." At Celes's disbelieving look, she laughed. "It would take too long to explain, and you probably wouldn't believe me if I did."

"You might be surprised," Celes said.

Rydia shrugged. "Zemus, a creature of darkness, was trying to enslave our world to gain more power for himself. We spent so long running after him and trying to keep the Crystals safe, but in the end we had to fight him. That's how I met Edge, and everyone else." Her eyes went blank and distant for a moment. "Zemus's actions caused the deaths of everyone in my village--my entire clan. I'm the only summoner left."

"I am sorry," Celes murmured. "I know what it's like to be the only one of your kind."

"Oh?" Rydia looked at her with curiosity.

"I...I'm not sure exactly what set me apart. I think it was to do with magic." She rubbed her forehead.

"It's not the most usual thing to be able to use many kinds of magic," Rydia agreed. "Even in Mysidia, where most people go to learn magic, there are only a few who can use black and white magic. I had to choose, when I went through my initiation, which I would sacrifice. It's hard enough to master two kinds; three is nearly impossible."

If she closed her eyes, Celes could almost remember a pristine laboratory, scrubbed pure white, with racks upon racks of glass tubes and all kinds of hoses. "I don't think your magic and mine work the same way," she said.

"Well, if we can't find your companions--or a way for you to get back where you came from--here, I can always ask Cid to lend his airship and take you to Mysidia. They've got lore stored there from hundreds of years ago. Or I can ask Leviathan; he knows a lot of things."

"Cid?" Celes repeated. "I knew someone by that name--but he was a scientist, not a pilot."

"It's not that uncommon a name, I guess," Rydia said.

Ahead of them, Edge waved. He stood at the edge of a vast tract of forest.

"Hey, hurry it up!" he called.

Rydia raised her left hand, and a bolt of lightning leapt out of the clear blue sky to strike the ground a meter to Edge's left. He yelped and leapt away.

"Watch it!" he cried.

"I was," she shouted back, with a serenely satisfied smile on her face. She saw Celes's shocked expression and laughed. "I have to keep him in his place, you see," she explained.

Despite her words, they did both increase their pace, and joined him at the edge of the forest. "Does this look familiar?" he asked.

Celes studied the area. "I believe so. I think I initially awoke in the forest."

"There's a path here. I figured maybe we'd take it, see what we can find." Edge turned to lead the way.

"As long as you don't get us lost like you did that one time in Agart," Rydia said loudly.

"Rydia!" Edge protested.

"The entire island," Rydia explained, "is about half the size of Eblan City, but somehow he still managed to get lost."

"I did _not," _Edge insisted. "I maintain that that was _completely _Kain's fault."

"He says otherwise," Rydia pointed out.

"Yes, because his memory is so reliable that way. Also he's never done anything stupid before." Edge rolled his eyes.

"And of course, you wouldn't know anything about falling through a hole in the Eidolon Passage that I specifically warned you was there because you were too busy watching my backside," Rydia countered.

Celes thought Edge might be blushing, though the veil made it hard to tell.

"I apologized for that already," Edge grumbled. "Besides, these are my lands. I know them well."

"Famous last words," Rydia said with a sigh. "All right, fine. Lead on, O Mighty Navigator."

Edge turned and led them directly into the forest. Celes gestured for Rydia to follow, since Rydia wore less armor. Celes herself took up the rear, and watched their surroundings closely.

The path they followed was clear enough, and whatever Rydia's opinion of Edge's navigational abilities, he seemed to have little difficulty leading the way through the underbrush. Celes thought she recognized the area, but most forests looked very much alike to her.

They had been walking for perhaps an hour when they came across a clearing that Celes was certain she recognized. The path continued on past it.

"This is where I woke up," she said.

"You're not the only one," Edge replied, crouching next to one of the large rocks. "There's two sets of boot prints here, and one is too big to be yours."

"Where did the other set go?" Celes asked.

Edge pointed at the other path.

"Before we go haring off," Rydia said, "let's stop and eat something. We'll need the energy if we're going to go much father."

Edge immediately plopped down next to the rock and began digging in his pack. "Beautiful _and _intelligent," he declared as he rooted around.

"It's a good thing one of us is," Rydia retorted, kneeling gracefully.

Edge clutched at his heart with an excess of dramatic expression. "You wound me," he said.

"Edge, nothing wounds your ego." Rydia pulled half a loaf of bread, neatly wrapped in a cloth, out of her pack.

Celes examined her own pack and found some dried meat and vegetables, while Edge's rummaging eventually produced a bottle of wine and some cheese. Silence fell while they ate their lunch, except for the rustling of cloth as Edge fidgeted in place. It was not entirely unpleasant, and Celes found the lack of bickering to be something of a relief, for all its comedy.

"Ready to go?" Edge asked when all the food had been consumed.

"Impatient," Rydia said with a sigh. "But yes, I am."

Celes contented herself with a nod as she rose from her seat on one of the rocks.

"Onward!" Edge declared, and pointed dramatically at the path they planned to follow.

Their journey remained relatively quiet, as all of them were being watchful for monsters. Celes was no scout, but she did notice where branches had broken due to the passage of a person who was not watching where he or she was going. As they continued forward, she noticed that the branches seemed to be broken in a specific pattern, rather than randomly. Every fourth tree had a branch that was broken, but not completely removed, and the broken branches pointed in the direction they were travelling.

She wondered if it was a message from an ally, or bait from an enemy.

Ahead of her, Edge stopped abruptly. Celes stood on tiptoe to see over his shoulder, while Rydia ducked around to his other side.

There was a large clearing ahead of them, and dead center was a massive oval portal of some kind, glowing with the peculiar shade of reddish light that suggested magic. A man perhaps ten years older than Celes herself stood braced before it, struggling against its efforts to draw him in. He wore a familiar dark-blue bandanna, and his eyes lit when he saw her. "Celes! Come on, we're the last ones! Let's go home!"

"Huh," Edge said.

Rydia turned and opened her arms for a hug. Celes obliged, somewhat stiffly. "I'm glad you'll be able to go home," Rydia said. "Be well."

"Thank you for your kindness," Celes said gravely.

"Hey, good luck," Edge said, and clapped her on the shoulder. She nodded her thanks and moved toward the man in the bandanna.

"Take my hand," he said, and she did, wondering why the situation seemed so familiar.

"Ready? Go!" He stopped bracing himself, and the magic reached out for them, drawing them both through the portal.

She stumbled when they landed, and had to brace herself against the stone floor of the cave they were in. In a flash, the fog that had permeated her memories seemed to lift, and she knew exactly who and what she was.

"Well, that's a relief," Locke said, sitting up. "I was starting to wonder if I'd ever get my memories back."

"You, too?" she asked.

"Yeah. I woke up there and couldn't remember a thing. You were there, but I didn't know who you were - just that I needed to take care of you." He pulled off the bandanna and ran a hand through his hair. "So I went to scout the area, but you were gone when I got back."

"I went looking for a way out," she explained, "and met with Edge and Rydia. They helped me find my way back."

"Good for them." He grinned, and squeezed her hand. "But, seriously, this is not okay. What am I, an amnesia magnet or something?"

"What I want to know is how we got there," Celes said.

"No idea." Locke sighed. "Also no idea where we are now."

"Mr. Thou! Mr. Thou! I find!" Gau's voice echoed off the rocks. A few minutes later, Sabin came around a bend in the tunnel and glared at them.

"About time," he said. "Next time you two want to be alone, just tell us instead of disappearing like that, okay?"

Celes looked at Locke, who rolled his eyes. "Let's not share the details," he muttered, and she nodded.

"So, let's get a move on. Kefka is not destroying himself, unfortunately," Sabin said.

Celes adjusted her sword belt and nodded. "Let's go," she said.

She glanced back as they left the cave, but saw no further signs of the portal that had joined their two worlds.

It was strange that already, she missed Edge and Rydia, in spite of their bickering.


End file.
